Dallas is spending nearly $1 billion to rebuild the Interstate 30 Lake Ray Hubbard crossing, and the reasons behind it go far deeper than a simple bridge upgrade.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz7jzX_ADdI

Dallas Skyline Will Look COMPLETELY Different by 2035

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ZhHjtnpUE 

 Dallas’ $8B Gamble: Rebuild the City… or Break It (2027–2029) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJitOoB0KoA

DFW

Why Dallas Is Spending Nearly $1B on this Bridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gud50kcyJQs  

Austin and San Antonio, the concept of a "Megaregion" already shapes your daily life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmxCw3v9U8I

How the Seattle to Vancouver area could become a megaregion

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POcg0oFvVf8 

The larger Portland, Seattle and the Vancouver, BC (V-BC) region has a lot of growth potential. However, Seattle size buildings haven't been allowed in Portland and in Vancouver, BC. Nothing like a 12 lane Ship Canal Bridge has been allowed in Portland and Vancouver. While Oregon and backwater BC haven't been able to thwart the largest city in Washington State, Seattle might eventually become more of a magnet in pulling more people into the area between Portland and V-BC. 

Right now, Vancouver, WA (V-WA) still has a wider bridge than V-BC. Most of the V-BC bridges are so damn narrow that its not possible to have an efficient regional express bus network. As long as there is a refusal to build proper BRT bridges as part of a regional system, it remains a sad joke. 

The Skytrain (LRT) was built with shorter stations than what the underground stations in Seattle and Edmonton are at. Whenever possible, the Skytrain stations are shorter than the C Train stations in Calgary, DART stations in Dallas and even the Max in Portland. 

The biggest mistake of the Skytrain was to not build all of the stations with a future level clearance to eventually have Montreal Metro size stations of 500 feet or 152.5 m. Instead, the first 2 lines only have 80 m stations and the line to YVR (The Canada embarrassment Line) is only 50 m. Backwater BC logic is that a 5 car Skytrain could run twice as frequent as a 9 car Montreal Metro train. Someday, a 2.5 car YVR-Canada Line train could also run much more frequently than a 9 car Montreal Metro train. 

There is just one key problem with that type of BC logic. While initially constructing short stations and having short trains can save money, its not proper BIG city size infrastructure. In the long run, it costs more to try to lengthen stations for longer BIG city type trains. 

The Dallas sprawl

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A098C4amqU

The Houston Galleria and Galleria Dallas

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Galleria 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galleria_Dallas 

Texas is a place where thinking BIG has been going strong for almost a century. 

By the year 1900, NYC had to start thinking and building on a big-city scale, simply out of necessity.

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/03/11/nyc-big-apple 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Apple 

In contrast, backwater BC has a tough time keeping up with Alberta and Washington State. Especially with Ontario and Quebec. BC is 75% mountainous and has a seawater barrier on its west side. Still, its almost as if some people would like to have a wall around BC, or even a forcefield like out of Star Trek. 

Keeping things small and backwards in BC whenever possible seems to be part of a multigenerational symbolic agenda. 

Its as if there is something like a BC Mind Virus (BCMV).

Texas has more people than Australia and California has more people than Canada. Despite its overall size, Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. 

Singapore is on an island that's smaller than all of NYC or Chicago, even. Yet, it has proper big-city trains, bridges, roads and buildings.

Dallas’ $8B Gamble to Rebuild the City

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJitOoB0KoA

How Dallas Is Becoming America's Next Mega City

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbusmhG2QMI

Why Dallas is Becoming the Economic Capital of Texas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7aNcieKgc 

Dallas’s Biggest Megaprojects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Dv1WwO7OQ

Why Dallas Is Growing so Fast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Qp6dUDEeU 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dallas/comments/n0l2b4/dallas_growth_in_20_years_20012021/

Phoenix vs. Dallas

How Two U.S. cities will KICK OFF their rail transit revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLMtmWwAsE Dallas is part of a much larger urban area.

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/city-size-comparison/phoenix-c3944/dallas-c3890

https://www.chase.com/personal/mortgage/cityvscity/phoenix-dallas

https://whymovetodallas.com/living-in-dallas-texas-blog/dallas-vs-phoenix-which-city-is-better-to-live-in 

https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/city-size-comparison/dallas-c3890/phoenix-c3944

Dallas's New DART Train (The Silver Line)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W06uFmwT-o

Texas launched TexRail in 2019 to connect Fort Worth with Dallas Fort Worth airport (DFW)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD2kjiUUUh4

 https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers/comments/1o87d8j/dallas

Vancouver's forgotten streetcars and interurban trams

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/transportation-old/interurban-streetcar-hydrogen-rail-line-fraser-valley-bc-1942783

Fortunately, Toronto, NO, SF and Melbourne never got rid of all their streetcar and tram lines.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/downtown-vancouver-false-creek-streetcar-route-map

While backwards Vancouver wanted to be among the first cities to get rid of them, Vancouver will likely be one of the last cities to bring them back.

https://viewpointvancouver.ca/2021/04/06/a-bump-in-the-road-kits-points-hidden-streetcar-line/

Atlanta, SD, LA, Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle & Portland brought back some of their trollies in the form of modern LRT or tram-trains.

https://montecristomagazine.com/community/vancouvers-forgotten-streetcars

The sad irony is that Vancouver, Burnaby & NW really could have benefitted from following the Toronto, SF and Melbourne examples. 

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/history/last-ride-oak-streetcar-vancouver-1937040

https://www.facebook.com/groups/128486813979056/posts/1968090176685368

 https://maps.nicholsonroad.com/bcer/

https://humantransit.org/2010/02/vancouver-the-almost-perfect-grid.html

There used too be a streetcar route along Robson St., Denman St. & Davie St. A revived version of this could provide a nice downtown transit loop. However, that would go against the backwards mentality of Vancouver. Fortunately, the Stubborn+Vancouver mentality never made it to Atlanta & Dallas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Streetcar#Downtown_Loop_route_funded

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar

Unfortunatly, Vancouver & BC are all about congestive planning.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/2026-fifa-world-cup-vancouver-1.7559067

With less than a year to go, its impossible to revive any streetcar lines, because that can take 5-10 years. There isn't even a network of regional bus bridges. Such inept transportation planning means that busses have to squeeze onto bridges that are mostly just 2 lanes each way. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-rising-costs-fifa-2026-world-cup-1.7573669

Despite the first SkyTrain line opening in 1985, it took until 2025 to start having5 car trains. The 2nd & 3rd lines are still only running 2 car trains.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/vancouver-short-on-hotel-rooms-silent-on-safety-costs-for-2026-world-cup/

Of course the city is decades behind in keeping up with having enough hotel rooms.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-hotel-shortage-2026-world-cup-1.7117696

https://vancouverfwc26.ca 

https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/articles/vancouver-host-seven-matches-canada-stadium-bc-place

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Trams-Trains+and+Streetcars

Midweek showers sandwiched by sunny days in Metro Vancouver

 https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/metro-vancouver-forecast-midweek-showers-sun-july-2025-10912705

Summer is only a 3 quick months in BC, so when crappy rainy fall like weather shows up, it shortens the number of summer days even more. At least half of the year is cold & damp in Vancouver. Yet once again, Vancouver is so far behind. There is the RESO or Underground_City in_Montreal and the Path_in Toronto. While Vancouver doesn't get as cold as Chicago during the winter, or as hot as Dallas and Houston during the summer, there still should have been a proper effort to have a key part of the downtown interconnected with tunnels. There is just something about Vancouver & BC that always opts to take a Half-A$$ED approach to things.

Dallas Cityplace Tower landlord seeks to add nearly 1,000 apartments

 https://www.costar.com/article/434219195/dallas-cityplace-tower-landlord-seeks-to-add-nearly-1000-apartments

https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/cityplace-ii/34077

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2025/05/05/cityplace-redevelopment-nexpoint.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dallas/comments/1ctfwc2/did_you_know_these_dallas_buildings_were

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Cityplace+Tower

Calgary vs. Denver and Dallas

The scale Calgary is impressive, but Alberta just doesn't have the same imposed restrictions as backwater BC. 

Denver is a big city & metropolitan area in its own right, but somehow Calgary has more 50 story office towers than Denver. Dallas has more tall buildings than Calgary and Denver, combined.

Dallas is a landlocked_city like Calgary and Denver.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas

Edmonton Light Rail Transit (LRT)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_LRT#History Unlike what backwards Vancouver would end up doing, Edmonton understood the importance of having long underground stations, right from the start.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Line#Stations If you are from Edmonton or Seattle, you will be immediately surprised as to how short & small the underground Vancouver train stations are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton) 1978

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Churchill_LRT_station_platform_facing_Clareview_and_NAIT%2C_11-04-2023.jpg 

"The underground station has a 129-metre-long (423 ft) centre loading platform that can accommodate two five-car LRT trains at the same time, with one train on each side of the platform. At just under 8 m wide (26 ft), the underground platform is narrow by current Edmonton LRT design guidelines." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill_station_(Edmonton)#Station_layout

Yet, this is big by narrowminded Vancouver & BC standards. Despite Vancouver having its own version of cold & crappy weather, there just isn't the same concept or desire to have a network of elevated & especially, underground corridors like what Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Dallas & Houston have.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_station_(Edmonton) 1978

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay/Enterprise_Square_station 1983 Being from wattered down Vancouver, it's hard to fathom a 130m long underground station in Edmonton, but Albertal doesn't have anything like a backwards BC mentality to contend with. The first 2 SkyTrain lines were designed to only have 80m stations. The 3rd line to Richmond & YVR, was only designed to have 50m stations. While this initially might have made sense as a cost saving measure, it will cost so much more to eventually try to lengthen these short stations. Thus, all the stations should have been designed to eventually be at least 153m, or just over 500 feet. 

"The station has a 130-metre-long (430 ft) centre loading platform that can accommodate two five-car LRT trains at the same time, with one train on each side of the platform." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay/Enterprise_Square_station#Station_layout

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_station_(Edmonton) 1983

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Centre_station 1989

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_station_(Edmonton) 1992 It remains to be scene if Vancouver might have a UBC station by 2032. While geology & climate can vary between cities, the laws of physics in the BC part of Canada isn't supposed to be different. Yet, it takes a long time to get things done in backwater BC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Line#Stations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_light_rail_systems

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Edmonton

The Dallas Streetcar

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar#Future_expansion_plans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Line_Trolley#Future

https://www.dart.org/guide/transit-and-use/dallas-streetcar

https://www.mata.org/about/learn/

https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2023/10/dallas-wakes-up-to-a-hazy-dream-of-a-streetcar-system

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=streetcars+and+trams

The Sixth Street Viaduct and the West 7th Street Bridge

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Street_Viaduct Los Angeles 

https://www.lusas.com/case/bridge/west_7th_street_bridge.html Fort Worth, Texas

Of course similar bridges can be seen in various cities. 

https://aecollab.com/projects/bridges/west-7th-street-bridge

https://ftwtoday.6amcity.com/66-mile-bike-trail-connects-fort-worth-dallas

https://laist.com/news/transportation/6th-street-bridge-bike-lanes-how-protective-are-they

https://www.dailynews.com/2022/07/07/sixth-street-bridge-connecting-boyle-heights-and-arts-district-over-l-a-river-is-complete/

City of Vancouver parts ways with its chief planner

Theresa O'Donnell came to Vancouver as a deputy director of planning in 2019 after 15 years working for the City of Dallas  https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/city-of-vancouver-parts-ways-with-chief-planner

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/theresa-odonnell-city-of-vancouver-chief-planner-departure

Small Vancouver can fit into Dallas 8 times.

Area [2]
• City	123.63 km2 (47.73 sq mi)
• Land	115.18 km2 (44.47 sq mi)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver#Geography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas

Area [2]
• City	385.9 sq mi (999.2 km2)
• Land	339.604 sq mi (879.56 km2)
• Water	43.87 sq mi (113.60 km2)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas#Geography

Vancouver was one of the first cities to remove its streetcars in the 1950s & will likely be one of the last to bring them back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Downtown_Historic_Railway#Proposed_future_service

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar Of course Dallas would revive a small portion of its streetcar system long before Vancouver ever could. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Streetcar#Future_expansion_plans

https://www.mata.org/ride/route-map 

Even Los_Angeles & the Brooklyn-Queens_Connector will likely be up & running sooner than Vancouver's attempted revival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Heritage_streetcar_systems

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#List_of_primarily_tourist_heritage_systems_in_North_America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcars_in_North_America#Light_rail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail_in_North_America#History_of_streetcars_and_light_rail

Dallas

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ2o3j6s1eI 1955